


Young Man(ta) There's no Need to Feel Down

by BeaStwerves



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Beast Wars
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Breaking and Entering, DC don't have a membership, Depth Charge (Transformers) - Freeform, Depth Charge Lives AU, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Illegal use of a YMCA pool, Kissing, M/M, Other, Reader-Insert, Robot/Human Relationships, So I hope you like Village People, The title and the description of this story are all goddamn puns, This is ridiculously implausible but I want this goddammit, Xeno, reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 02:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21384811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeaStwerves/pseuds/BeaStwerves
Summary: Of all the dumb ideas you'd had over the course of your life, arguably the dumbest one you ever had was breaking into your work late one night so your 20-foot tall alien robot boyfriend could enjoy all the great things the Young Man's Christian Association had to offer.But with the stakes high and the risk of being caught very likely, would you even be able to stay there? Or find any way to have a good time?On top of that, convincing said robot boyfriend that "There's no need to be unhappy." could be just as difficult as sneaking him into the damn place.What will it take for you to show Depth Charge that it is, in fact, fun to stay at the YMCA?
Relationships: Depth Charge (Transformers)/Reader, Depth Charge (Transformers)/You
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. Dc/non-binary reader

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was born at 3 am when a collective group of Depth Charge lovers, myself included, discovered the staggering lack of DC/reader content. Naturally, I dropped everything and wrote up the silliest, fluffiest, most ooc situation for DC and his lovely reader partner to find themselves in. All while Y.M.C.A. blared in the background on repeat.  
Also since I know Dc is irresistible to all, there are three versions of this story: one with a non-binary reader, one with a male reader, and one with a female reader. Nothing really changes in each version besides some pronoun use and what the reader is wearing, so you just pick the version that you want and go from there and enjoy!

Now, you’d had a few stupid ideas in the past, actually make that many stupid ideas, but sneaking your 20 ft tall mechanimal boyfriend into a YMCA after dark, the YMCA you also happen to be employed to, is up there. Right up there with not running for the hills when you first encountered said mechanimal and then deciding to get to know and eventually date the thing. 

Okay, scratch those last two. Meeting Depth Charge was the best thing that had ever happened to you, you loved him, fins and all, and you’d do anything for the bot. This included letting Depth Charge sneak through the back entrance of your local Young Men’s Christian Association to do God knows what together once inside. The whole idea had been quite impulsive on your part, but you knew it was something Depth Charge had been interested in for quite some time. He always listened to your dramatic poolside lifeguard stories with a tad bit more enthusiasm than he’d usually let out for any other topic. When confronted about his unusual interest in your line of work he had just grumbled: “In a way, you’re a hero.” 

This was high praise coming from the usually aloof mech, and it was enough to make you blush. When he had made an offhand comment about wanting to see what it was like there, you’d jumped on the idea instantly. Maybe it was because it was practically a special occasion when the bot showed interest in any sort of human activity, or maybe it was because you couldn’t say no to that handsome face. Either way, you decided to not question why a million-year-old war-torn mech would want to just head on down to the YMCA and instead decided it was a date. Despite your better judgment. Besides, the YMCA was currently going under renovation, and budget cuts allowed you three hours in the night without the watchful eyes of the cameras. What could possibly go wrong?

So far the plan had just been to get inside without being caught. After that, you had no idea what the two of you would even do afterward. A dip in the pool sounded nice, especially since your boyfriend happened to be an aquatic mechanical, but he was also a rather large one. The thought of Depth Charge pouting in water that only went up to his waist got a small chuckle out of you, which earned a glance from the mech beside you.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked as the two of you neared the large back entrance. 

“Always the tactician arncha’ DC.” you grinned back. 

He huffed in response then stopped abruptly, leaning down and fixing you with a sharp glowing gaze. 

“I’m being serious y/n, I need to know what your plan is. I didn’t spend millions of years on this planet hiding from you humans just to get caught because a certain someone decided that sneaking a Cybertronian, something that most people couldn’t even comprehend, into a YMCA, without even taking the time to check if anyone else was around to witness it, was a good idea.”

You scowled, straightening up in an attempt to make yourself look bigger, if that was even possible next to the huge bot, and shot back. “Okay, first of all, you were the one who wanted to go here in the first place!” 

He began to retort but you cut him off before he could even begin. If you two started a back and forth, you might just argue outside the YMCA until the sun came up.

“Secondly,” you paused for dramatic effect, then continued a bit softer than your previous comments, “I really don’t want to argue with you, not tonight. Please just trust me on this. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

Depth Charge’s harsh red glare softened, and he let his shoulders drop. The victory was your’s this time. You offered him a gentle smile then continued towards the large shipment door a few paces ahead. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay DC, step one is getting you in. I have a set of keys...” you dug the keys out of your hoodie pocket and twirled them around your finger for a bit of flare. “That can get us just about anywhere, including through there, but uh….” you paused giggling a bit at the sheer absurdity of the situation. 

“The door’s only about seven feet high so you may have to do some tactical maneuvering big guy.”

You smirked at his grumbling and set off to get the door unlocked. Lucky you, your manager trusted you with all sorts of odd jobs around the facility, not just lifeguarding. Either that or he was too lazy to do it himself. Well, you got a set of keys and a date with your boyfriend out of it so you didn’t really mind that much.

“Ugh, a little help here?” you grunted, struggling to lift the heavy metal curtain over the entrance.

“Alright step back small fry.”

You frowned at the nickname but then marveled at how effortlessly he lifted the metal, watching his metallic back ripple almost hypnotically with the force of the lift.

He glanced back with a smirk in his eye, only for it to deepen when he caught you staring. 

“See something you like short-stack?” He winked, sauntering to the side then gesturing towards the door. “Fleshies first.”

You huffed out a short breath, dragging your thoughts away from the gutters they had crawled into and ignoring how your heart fluttered. You outright refused to let him see how much that little wink affected you, it would go straight to his head. Stupid sexy machine. You waltzed through the entrance with ease, then backed up enough to get a good view of Depth Charge’s attempts to make his way through. It had taken a bit of maneuvering, but his attempts were more “fish out of water” than “tactical” and you almost choked holding back your laughter. 

In the end, he lowered himself down on his stomach and army crawled through the tight entrance. Then he stood up abruptly and brushed himself off as though nothing had happened, scowling at your attempts to stifle your mad cackles. If looks could kill you would have been found hours later, stiff on the floor with the same dopey grin you currently had plastered on your face. Fortunately, you were almost certain the massive mech still loved you, so you weren’t too worried about death by Depth Charge at the moment.

“Alright DC, now it’s time for phase 2.” You winked.

“And what might that be?” He asked accusingly, making a show of brushing off the debris from the floor that clung stubbornly to his plating. 

“Having fun!” You sang with mock enthusiasm, then you frowned, “Except…”

Depth Charge loomed over you once again and you could almost feel the patience oozing out of him at a rapid rate. 

“Except what, y/n?” 

“Well...” you squeaked, then cleared your throat and tried again. “Well okay, I’m pretty sure there’s only one other room you could stand comfortably in and that’s the pool. We also have to get there somehow so uh…” You trailed off and looked up, giving him what you hoped was a reassuring face. 

“You up for a bit more maneuvering big guy?”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Depth Charge, as it turned out, was not up for a bit more maneuvering, but at least now you were 100% sure he loved you because he still followed you through the building, scraping his heavy metal body across the claustrophobic corridors with the diligence and dignity of a man going to war. Sure, he complained the whole time, but that was understandable for someone in his position. Now you just had to make sure he wouldn’t regret it.

The two of you followed the lingering scent of chlorine until you reached your destination. Lucky for you the door to the pool, while still not Depth Charge sized, (though you doubted anything in this world was made for a 20-foot tall mech) was still large enough for him to crawl through without much trouble. You opted out of laughing at him this time and decided to be the better partner, placing a hand in his massive one and guiding him through the tight squeeze. You felt your stomach flip-flop when he subtly pet your hand with one of his digits and looked up with a hint of appreciation in his warm red eyes.

When he fit through he stood up once more and took in the almost ethereal sight. The room was flickering with the light from the shining blue bulbs inside the water. It bathed the two of you in a ghostly glow, and the mixture of blue and yellow tones contrasting on Depth Charge’s face had you staring in wonder. You were in the middle of gaping at the shimmering dips and curves of his figure and wondering how you managed to get under the plating of something so alien, so incomprehensibly beautiful, when he suddenly grunted, knocking you out of your stupor. 

“It’s too small.” he announced and if you didn’t know better, you’d say he was almost whining.

“So am I but I don’t see you complaining.” you quipped back, rapping your knuckles on his metal calf.

He stared back unamused so you just sighed and continued.

“Look, it’s no open ocean, but I promise it’s clean, warm, and big enough for you to relax in.” 

“Plus,” you added when you noticed him still staring reluctantly over at the pool, “you get to see me in a swimsuit.”

You may or may not have purchased a piece of tasteful manta ray patterned swim attire with a certain someone in mind, and now that you had the chance to show him, you felt more than a little excited about it. You knew that he had a particular soft spot towards how much your bodies contrasted with one another already. You only hoped he would be as enthusiastic about seeing more of you as you were putting yourself on display for him. He grunted once again so you took it as a sign that he would need a bit more coaxing.

“Alright then, if you’re just going to sit there and sulk I’m going to go change.” 

As you began to saunter off towards the locker rooms, you felt a large metal hand rest on your shoulder, stopping you in your tracks. You sputtered and turned towards your offender, only to lose the piece of mind you had ready for him immediately. Deep in his gaze was a hint of amusement and a hint of something else. Something that told you he would be more than welcome to join you for a swim tonight.

“Hey,” he said huskily, gently guiding you back to his side. “You don’t have to run off to go change you know.”

You huffed in response, suddenly finding yourself unable to meet his piercing amber gaze.

“Ummm, yeah I kind of do DC, I’m not going to jump in the pool fully dressed…”

“No, I mean you can stay and change here.” His voice dipped impossibly lower. “It’s just me. I won’t bite.”

His tone of voice made it clear that yes he absolutely would bite and if he did you would enjoy it. But you relented for the same reason why you had broken into your work with him in the first place. Try as you might, you could never say no to that handsome face.

“If you say so!” stepping back to shed your hoodie, hiding your steadily rising heartbeat under a blanket of chipper confidence. Once you fixed the black and blue manta mesh tank you donned as a tribute to the mech, the same mech you caught drinking in the sight of your midriff that had peaked out from the top that rode up during the struggle, you tossed your hoodie to the side and moved on to your jeans. Pulling them down to reveal a pair of tight matching sky blue swim shorts. 

“Okay!” you popped back up, kicking off your sandals and resting your hands on your hips. When you caught him staring shamelessly you decided to give the mech a taste of his own medicine.

“See something you like short-stack?” you quipped, posing in a way that let the nearly see-through top’s electric blue patterns stand out in the tinted light.

His eyes widened in recognition at the line and the familiar creatures on your only remaining articles of clothing, and he suddenly decided that the pool was much more interesting than your comically sultry pose and the thin, him-themed shirt you had on.

“I like it.” he vented “The clothes I mean. You humans can be pretty creative sometimes.”

“I should hope so.” You sniffed. “I bought these just for you and they weren’t cheap.”

Then you turned and grinned, “So I’d better get my money’s worth.”

With that questionable comment, you skipped off towards the edge of the pool and slipped in, turning back to watch Depth Charge stomp towards the deeper end of the pool to join you.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as you’d imagined, the water only went up to Depth Charge’s thick middle, so he opted to sink down cross-legged and comfortable, letting the warm water lap gently around his shoulders while he watched you swim in circles around him. This action had displaced most of the water out of the pool and onto the floor surrounding it but hey, it wasn’t like anyone would find out the cause of the now soaking concrete. Even if one of your coworkers did conclude that a giant aquatic alien robot caused this huge mess, what could they do about it? The thought of your manager chewing out Depth Charge for carelessly causing a pool-side hazard while he hung his head in shame was an amusing one though.

You had been gliding in and out of the water surrounding the mech for the past hour and you could admit, you had been putting on a bit of a show for him. Performing various strokes and dives around his large body hoping to capture his attention. Occasionally you’d stop to rest on your back and let the shifting water drag you towards various corners of the pool. It was when you were floating aimlessly around the pool that you bumped up against the chassis of the bot. You opened your eyes, looked up, and met an uncharacteristically tender yellow gaze. It was strange seeing him so relaxed. He sat with his arms on the side of the pool and winged back carefully resting against a corner, much like a casual spa-goer would lounge on the side of a hot tub. You had promised him warm water and clearly he was enjoying himself more than he let on.

You squeaked as he suddenly thrust his arms in the water, using his large hands to playfully corral you up to his chest.

“Depth Charge what are you doing?” you squirmed, legs kicking out as he scooped you up from underneath, preventing you from diving away.

“Going fishing.” he chuckled. “Got myself a catch, but they’re a bit small, I may have to throw them back.”

“Depth Charge don’t you dare!” 

But before you could finish, he lifted you up in one giant hand and gently tossed you in an arch about four feet forward and five feet in the air, laughing as you screeched unceremoniously before hitting the water with a loud smack. You shot up sputtering, charging up some choice words to yell at the cackling mech, but then you stopped when you saw him, and all of a sudden you weren’t mad anymore.

He wasn’t just laughing, he was beaming. At some point, he’d felt comfortable enough to take off his mask. You hadn’t really made a big deal out of it, knowing how rare a glimpse of his battle-scarred smolder could be. The last thing you wanted to do was make him feel like he couldn’t be vulnerable around you. But now that he was grinning, rugged lips stretched open and multiple rows of fangs flashing in the blue light. Now that he had a look of genuine joy on his face. You couldn’t look away. You felt a tug in the back of your mind, a little voice that begged you to do something you had only ever dreamed of before. Slowly before he could catch you staring, before he could hide his glowing smile under a stormy face, you paddled up to him and rested your head on his chest and let the warm throb of his spark pulse through your entire being. 

“Back for more tiny?” he smirked, gently cupping you and lifting you against his slick metal shoulder. 

“Depth Charge…” you whispered, gently tracing the curves of his wings and slowly moving to rest a hand on the side of his rough face. “You’re an asshole you know that? But still, I love it when you’re like this.”

“y/n…?” he questioned, not making any move to pull away or push you off, so you continued.

“I love it when you’re smiling, and I mean really smiling. Just like before. I love it when you’re happy. Hell, all I ever want to do is make you happy.” You let your thumb brush over one of the scars splitting his lip, enjoying the way your whole body shook when he trembled.

“Depth Charge, I love you.”

With that, you leaned forward and smashed your lips against his, feeling his body tense for a second, then relax into the kiss. He held pushed you closer against him using both hands to hold you as tightly as he could without hurting you. His hands shook like he was afraid you might disappear, and you gently stroked one of his cool digits letting him know you weren’t going anywhere. Your other hand mapped out the imperfections of his scarred cheek as you deepened the kiss.

As his tongue teased against your lips for entrance, you were suddenly reminded that every single part of this massive mech as nearly 3 times the size of you. Oh well, you had gotten this far with him, you weren’t about to let something as silly as the sheer size of his tongue scare you off. You let him sink in slowly, moaning around his tongue loving how it filled every inch of your mouth. You kissed around the curious probe for a while but had to gasp and pull back when it sunk down a little too deep for a first kiss. When you leaned back to catch your breath, you gazed into the most flustered face you had ever seen on a partner, let alone on someone like Depth Charge. Judging by the way his eyes squinted up into a sly smile once he recovered, you figured that you didn’t look much better.

“Well that was, something.” he finally mumbled, pulling you back from where he was crushing you into his chest and instead choosing to tuck you under his chin. 

“Yeah…” you sighed, almost expecting to wake up from a hazy, glowing, and very vivid dream. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“It was okay though, right? We could do it again sometime?”

When he looked down at you, you could have melted right there on the spot. He gazed at you like he almost couldn’t believe you were real, or really his. Sitting in the arms of a metal titan in the lukewarm water of a closed YMCA, you had never felt more treasured in your entire life.

“Yeah…” he trailed off, tracing over your delicate human features with the tip of a careful finger. “I’d be alright with that.”

And with that, he promptly flipped you back around and brought you back up for another warm, slow, and loving kiss.


	2. Dc/male reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fellas...

Now, you’d had a few stupid ideas in the past, actually make that many stupid ideas, but sneaking your 20 ft tall mechanimal boyfriend into a YMCA after dark, the YMCA you also happen to be employed to, is up there. Right up there with not running for the hills when you first encountered said mechanimal and then deciding to get to know and eventually date the thing. 

Okay, scratch those last two. Meeting Depth Charge was the best thing that had ever happened to you, you loved him, fins and all, and you’d do anything for the bot. This included letting Depth Charge sneak through the back entrance of your local Young Men’s Christian Association to do God knows what together once inside. 

This whole idea had been quite impulsive on your part, but you knew it was something Depth Charge had been interested in for quite some time. He always listened to your dramatic poolside lifeguard stories with a tad bit more enthusiasm than he’d usually let out for any other topic. When confronted about his unusual interest in your line of work he had just grumbled: “In a way, you’re a hero.” This was high praise coming from the usually aloof mech, and it was enough to make you blush. When he had made an offhand comment about wanting to see what it was like there, you’d jumped on the idea instantly. 

Maybe it was because it was practically a special occasion when the bot showed interest in any sort of human activity, or maybe it was because you couldn’t say no to that handsome face. Either way, you decided to not question why a million-year-old war-torn mech would want to just head on down to the YMCA and instead decided it was a date. Despite your better judgment. Besides, YMCA was currently going under renovation, and budget cuts allowed you three hours in the night without the watchful eyes of the cameras. What could possibly go wrong?

So far the plan had just been to get inside without being caught. After that, you had no idea what the two of you would even do afterward. A dip in the pool sounded nice, especially since your boyfriend happened to be an aquatic mechanical, but he was also a rather large one. The thought of Depth Charge pouting in water that only went up to his waist got a small chuckle out of you, which earned a glance from the mech beside you.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked as the two of you neared the large back entrance. 

“Always the tactician arncha’ DC.” you grinned back. 

He huffed in response then stopped abruptly, leaning down and fixing you with a sharp glowing gaze. 

“I’m being serious y/n, I need to know what your plan is. I didn’t spend millions of years on this planet hiding from you humans just to get caught because a certain someone decided that sneaking a Cybertronian, something that most people couldn’t even comprehend, into a YMCA, without even taking the time to check if anyone else was around to witness it, was a good idea.”

You scowled, straightening up in an attempt to make yourself look bigger, if that was even possible next to the huge bot, and shot back. “Okay, first of all, you were the one who wanted to go here in the first place!” 

He began to retort but you cut him off before he could even begin. If you two started a back and forth, you might just argue outside the YMCA until the sun came up.

“Secondly,” you paused for dramatic effect, then continued a bit softer than your previous comments, “I really don’t want to argue with you, not tonight. Please just trust me on this. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

Depth Charge’s harsh red glare softened, and he let his shoulders drop. The victory was your’s this time. You offered him a gentle smile then continued towards the large shipment door a few paces ahead. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay DC, step one is getting you in. I have a set of keys...” you dug the keys out of your hoodie pocket and twirled them around your finger for a bit of flare. “That can get us just about anywhere, including through there, but uh….” you paused giggling a bit at the sheer absurdity of the situation. 

“The door’s only about seven feet high so you may have to do some tactical maneuvering big guy.”

You smirked at his grumbling and set off to get the door unlocked. Lucky you, your manager trusted you with all sorts of odd jobs around the facility, not just lifeguarding. Either that or he was too lazy to do it himself. Well, you got a set of keys and a date with your boyfriend out of it so you didn’t really mind that much.

“Ugh, a little help here?” you grunted, struggling to lift the heavy metal curtain over the entrance.

“Alright step back small fry.”

You frowned at the nickname but then marveled at how effortlessly he lifted the metal, watching his metallic back ripple almost hypnotically with the force of the lift.

He glanced back with a smirk in his eye, only for it to deepen when he caught you staring. 

“See something you like short-stack?” He winked, sauntering to the side then gesturing towards the door. “Fleshies first.”

You huffed out a short breath, dragging your thoughts away from the gutters they had crawled into and ignoring how your heart fluttered. You outright refused to let him see how much that little wink affected you, it would go straight to his head. Stupid sexy machine.

You waltzed through the entrance with ease, then backed up enough to get a good view of Depth Charge’s attempts to make his way through. It had taken a bit of maneuvering, but his attempts were more “fish out of water” than “tactical” and you almost choked holding back your laughter. In the end, he lowered himself down on his stomach and army crawled through the tight entrance. Then he stood up abruptly and brushed himself off as though nothing had happened, scowling at your attempts to stifle your mad cackles. If looks could kill, you would have been found hours later, stiff on the floor with the same dopey grin you currently had plastered on your face. Fortunately, you were almost certain the massive mech still loved you, so you weren’t too worried about death by Depth Charge at the moment.

“Alright DC, now it’s time for phase 2.” you winked.

“And what might that be?” He asked accusingly, making a show of brushing off the debris from the floor that clung stubbornly to his plating.

“Having fun!” You sang with mock enthusiasm, then you frowned, “Except…”

Depth Charge loomed over you once again and you could almost feel the patience oozing out of him at a rapid rate.  
“Except what, y/n?” 

“Well...” you squeaked, then cleared your throat and tried again. “Well okay, I’m pretty sure there’s only one other room you could stand comfortably in and that’s the pool. We also have to get there somehow so uh…” You trailed off and looked up, giving him what you hoped was a reassuring face. 

“You up for a bit more maneuvering big guy?”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Depth Charge, as it turned out, was not up for a bit more maneuvering, but at least now you were 100% sure he loved you because he still followed you through the building, scraping his heavy metal body across the claustrophobic corridors with the diligence and dignity of a man going to war.  
Sure, he complained the whole time, but that was understandable for someone in his position. Now you just had to make sure he wouldn’t regret it.

The two of you followed the lingering scent of chlorine until you reached your destination. Lucky for you the door to the pool, while still not Depth Charge sized, (though you doubted anything in this world was made for a 20-foot tall mech) was still large enough for him to crawl through without much trouble. You opted out of laughing at him this time and decided to be the better partner, placing a hand in his massive one and guiding him through the tight squeeze. You felt your stomach flip-flop when he subtly pet your hand with one of his digits and looked up with a hint of appreciation in his warm red eyes.

Once he finally fit through, he stood up and took in the almost ethereal sight. The room was flickering with the light from the shining blue bulbs inside the water. It bathed the two of you in a ghostly glow, and the mixture of blue and yellow tones contrasting on Depth Charge’s face had you staring in wonder. You were in the middle of gaping at the shimmering dips and curves of his figure and wondering how you managed to get under the plating of something so alien, so incomprehensibly beautiful, when he suddenly grunted, knocking you out of your stupor. 

“It’s too small.” he announced and if you didn’t know better, you’d say he was almost whining.

“So am I but I don’t see you complaining.” you quipped back, rapping your knuckles on his metal calf.

He stared back unamused so you just sighed and continued.

“Look, it’s no open ocean, but I promise it’s clean, warm, and big enough for you to relax in.” 

“Plus,” you added when you noticed him still staring reluctantly over at the pool, “you get to see me in a swimsuit.”

You may or may not have purchased a piece of tasteful manta ray patterned swim attire with a certain someone in mind, and now that you had the chance to show him, you felt more than a little excited about it. You knew that he had a particular soft spot towards how much your bodies contrasted with one another already. You only hoped he would be as enthusiastic about seeing more of you as you were putting yourself on display for him. He grunted once again so you took it as a sign that he would need a bit more coaxing.

“Alright then, if you’re just going to sit there and sulk I’m going to go change.” 

As you began to saunter off towards the men’s locker rooms, you felt a large metal hand rest on your shoulder, stopping you in your tracks. You sputtered and turned towards your offender, only to lose the peace of mind you had ready for him immediately. Deep in his crimson gaze was a hint of amusement and a hint of something else. Something that told you he would be more than welcome to join you for a swim tonight.

“Hey,” he said huskily, gently guiding you back to his side. “You don’t have to run off to go change you know.”

You huffed in response, suddenly finding yourself unable to meet his piercing amber gaze.

“Ummm, yeah I kind of do DC, I’m not going to jump in the pool fully dressed…”

“No, I mean you can stay and change here.” His voice dipped impossibly lower. “It’s just me. I won’t bite.”

His tone of voice made it clear that yes he absolutely would bite and if he did you would enjoy it. But you relented for the same reason why you had broken into your work with him in the first place. Try as you might, you could never say no to that handsome face.

“If you say so!” you chirped, stepping back to shed your hoodie, hiding your steadily rising heartbeat under a blanket of chipper confidence.  
Once that was tossed to the side you moved on to your jeans. Pulling them down to reveal the short patterned trunks you donned as a tribute to the mech that was currently drinking in the sight of your bare legs and chest. 

“Okay!” you popped back up, kicking off your sandals and resting your hands on your hips. When you caught him staring shamelessly you decided to give the mech a taste of his own medicine.

“See something you like short-stack?” you quipped, posing in a way that let the short’s teal and yellow mantas stand out in the tinted light.

His eyes widened in recognition at the line and the familiar creatures on your only remaining article of clothing, then he suddenly decided that the pool was much more interesting than your comically sultry pose and the tiny him-themed shorts you had on.

“I like it.” he vented “The clothes I mean. You humans can be pretty creative sometimes.”  
“  
I should hope so.” You sniffed. “I bought these just for you and they weren’t cheap.”

Then you turned and grinned, “So I’d better get my money’s worth.”

With that questionable comment, you skipped off towards the edge of the pool and slipped in, turning back to watch Depth Charge stomp towards the deeper end of the pool to join you.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as you’d imagined, the water only went up to Depth Charge’s thick middle, so he opted to sink down cross-legged and comfortable, letting the warm water lap gently around his shoulders while he watched you swim in circles around him. This action had displaced most of the water out of the pool and onto the floor surrounding it but hey, it wasn’t like anyone would find out the cause of the now soaking concrete. Even if one of your coworkers did conclude that a giant aquatic alien robot caused this huge mess, what could they do about it? The thought of your manager chewing out Depth Charge for carelessly causing a pool-side hazard while he hung his head in shame was an amusing one though.

You had been gliding in and out of the water surrounding the mech for the past hour and could admit, you had been putting on a bit of a show for him. Performing various strokes and dives around his large body hoping to capture his attention. Occasionally you’d stop to rest on your back and let the shifting water drag you towards various corners of the pool. It was when you were in the middle of floating aimlessly around the pool that you bumped up against the chassis of the bot. You opened your eyes, looked up, and met an uncharacteristically tender yellow gaze. It was strange seeing him so relaxed. He sat with his arms on the side of the pool and winged back carefully resting against a corner, much like a casual spa-goer would lounge on the side of a hot tub. You had promised him warm water and clearly he was enjoying himself more than he let on.

You squeaked as he suddenly thrust his arms in the water, using his large hands to playfully corral you up to his chest.

“Depth Charge what are you doing?” you squirmed legs kicking out as he scooped you up from underneath, preventing you from diving away.

“Going fishing.” he chuckled. “Got myself a catch, but he’s a bit small, I may have to throw him back.”

“Depth Charge don’t you dare!” 

But before you could finish, he lifted you up in one giant hand and gently tossed you in an arch about four feet forward and five feet in the air, laughing as you screeched unceremoniously before hitting the water with a loud smack. You shot up sputtering, charging up some choice words to yell at the cackling mech, but then you stopped when you saw him, and all of a sudden you weren’t mad anymore.

He wasn’t just laughing, he was beaming. At some point, he’d felt comfortable enough to take off his mask. You hadn’t really made a big deal out of it, knowing how rare a glimpse of his battle-scarred smolder could be. The last thing you wanted to do was make him feel like he couldn’t be vulnerable around you. But now that he was grinning, rugged lips stretched open and multiple rows of fangs flashing in the blue light. Now that he had a look of genuine joy on his face. You couldn’t look away. You felt a tug in the back of your mind, a little voice that begged you to do something you had only ever dreamed of before. Slowly before he could catch you staring, before he could hide his glowing smile under a stormy face, you paddled up to him and rested your head on his chest and let the warm throb of his spark pulse through your entire being. 

“Back for more tiny?” he smirked, gently cupping you and lifting you against his slick metal shoulder. 

“Depth Charge…” you whispered, gently tracing the curves of his wings and slowly moving to rest a hand on the side of his rough face. “You’re an asshole you know that? But still, I love it when you’re like this.”

“y/n…?” he questioned, not making any move to pull away or push you off, so you continued.

“I love it when you’re smiling, and I mean really smiling. Just like before. I love it when you’re happy. Hell, all I ever want to do is make you happy.” You let your thumb brush over one of the scars splitting his lip, enjoying the way your whole body shook when he trembled.

“Depth Charge, I love you.”

With that, you leaned forward and smashed your lips against his, feeling his body tense for a second, then relax into the kiss. He held pushed you closer against him using both hands to hold you as tightly as he could without hurting you. His hands shook like he was afraid you might disappear, and you gently stroked one of his cool digits letting him know you weren’t going anywhere. Your other hand mapped out the imperfections of his scarred cheek as you deepened the kiss.

As his tongue teased against your lips for entrance, you were suddenly reminded that every single part of this massive mech as nearly 3 times the size of you. Oh well, you had gotten this far with him, you weren’t about to let something as silly as the sheer size of his tongue scare you off. You let him sink in slowly, moaning around his tongue loving how it filled every inch of your mouth. You kissed around the curious probe for a while but had to gasp and pull back when it sunk down a little too deep for a first kiss. When you leaned back to catch your breath, you gazed into the most flustered face you had ever seen on a partner, let alone on someone like Depth Charge. Judging by the way his eyes squinted up into a sly smile once he recovered, you figured that you didn’t look much better.

“Well that was, something.” he finally mumbled, pulling you back from where he was crushing you into his chest and instead choosing to tuck you under his chin. 

“Yeah…” you sighed, almost expecting to wake up from a hazy, glowing, and very vivid dream. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“It was okay though, right? We could do it again sometime?”

When he looked down at you, you could have melted right there on the spot. He gazed at you like he almost couldn’t believe you were real, or really his. Sitting in the arms of a metal titan in the lukewarm water of a closed YMCA, you had never felt more treasured in your entire life.

“Yeah…” he trailed off, tracing over your delicate human features with the tip of a careful finger. “I’d be alright with that.”

And with that, he promptly flipped you back around and brought you back up for another warm, slow, and loving kiss.


	3. Dc/female reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's go girls.

Now, you’d had a few stupid ideas in the past, actually make that many stupid ideas, but sneaking your 20 ft tall mechanimal boyfriend into a YMCA after dark, the YMCA you also happen to be employed to, is up there. Right up there with not running for the hills when you first encountered said mechanimal and then deciding to get to know and eventually date the thing. 

Okay, scratch those last two. Meeting Depth Charge was the best thing that had ever happened to you, you loved him, fins and all, and you’d do anything for the bot. This included letting Depth Charge sneak through the back entrance of your local Young Men’s Christian Association to do God knows what together once inside. This whole idea had been quite impulsive on your part, but you knew it was something Depth Charge had been interested in for quite some time. He always listened to your dramatic poolside lifeguard stories with a tad bit more enthusiasm than he’d usually let out for any other topic. When confronted about his unusual interest in your line of work he had just grumbled: “In a way, you’re a hero.” 

This was high praise coming from the usually aloof mech, and it was enough to make you blush. When he had made an offhand comment about wanting to see what it was like there, you’d jumped on the idea instantly. Maybe it was because it was practically a special occasion when the bot showed interest in any sort of human activity, or maybe it was because you couldn’t say no to that handsome face. Either way, you decided to not question why a million-year-old war-torn mech would want to just head on down to the YMCA and instead decided it was a date. Despite your better judgment. Besides, the YMCA was currently going under renovation, and budget cuts allowed you three hours in the night without the watchful eyes of the cameras. What could possibly go wrong?

So far the plan had just been to get inside without being caught. After that, you had no idea what the two of you would even do afterward. A dip in the pool sounded nice, especially since your boyfriend happened to be an aquatic mechanical, but he was also a rather large one. The thought of Depth Charge pouting in water that only went up to his waist got a small chuckle out of you, which earned a glance from the mech beside you.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked as the two of you neared the large back entrance. 

“Always the tactician arncha’ DC.” you grinned back. 

He huffed in response then stopped abruptly, leaning down and fixing you with a sharp glowing gaze. 

“I’m being serious y/n, I need to know what your plan is. I didn’t spend millions of years on this planet hiding from you humans just to get caught because a certain someone decided that sneaking a Cybertronian, something that most people couldn’t even comprehend, into a YMCA, without even taking the time to check if anyone else was around to witness it, was a good idea.”

You scowled, straightening up in an attempt to make yourself look bigger, if that was even possible next to the huge bot, and shot back. “Okay, first of all, you were the one who wanted to go here in the first place!” 

He began to retort but you cut him off before he could even begin. If you two started a back and forth, you might just argue outside the YMCA until the sun came up.

“Secondly,” you paused for dramatic effect, then continued a bit softer than your previous comments, “I really don’t want to argue with you, not tonight. Please just trust me on this. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

Depth Charge’s harsh red glare softened, and he let his shoulders drop. The victory was your’s this time. You offered him a gentle smile then continued towards the large shipment door a few paces ahead. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay DC, step one is getting you in. I have a set of keys...” you dug the keys out of your hoodie pocket and twirled them around your finger for a bit of flare. “That can get us just about anywhere, including through there, but uh….” you paused giggling a bit at the sheer absurdity of the situation. 

“The door’s only about seven feet high so you may have to do some tactical maneuvering big guy.”

You smirked at his grumbling and set off to get the door unlocked. Lucky you, your manager trusted you with all sorts of odd jobs around the facility, not just lifeguarding. Either that or he was too lazy to do it himself. Oh well, you got a set of keys and a date with your boyfriend out of it so you didn’t really mind that much.

“Ugh, a little help here?” you grunted, struggling to lift the heavy metal curtain over the entrance.

“Alright step back small fry.”

You frowned at the nickname but then marveled at how effortlessly he lifted the metal, watching his metallic back ripple almost hypnotically with the force of the lift.

He glanced back with a smirk in his eye, only for it to deepen when he caught you staring. 

“See something you like short-stack?” He winked, sauntering to the side then gesturing towards the door. “Fleshies first.”

You huffed out a short breath, dragging your thoughts away from the gutters they had crawled into and ignoring how your heart fluttered. You outright refused to let him see how much that little wink affected you, it would go straight to his head. Stupid sexy machine.

You waltzed through the entrance with ease, then backed up enough to get a good view of Depth Charge’s attempts to make his way through. It had taken a bit of maneuvering, but his attempts were more “fish out of water” than “tactical” and you almost choked holding back your laughter. In the end, he lowered himself down on his stomach and army crawled through the tight entrance. Then he stood up abruptly and brushed himself off as though nothing had happened, scowling at your attempts to stifle your mad cackles. If looks could kill you would have been found hours later, stiff on the floor with the same dopey grin you currently had plastered on your face. Fortunately, you were almost certain the massive mech still loved you, so you weren’t too worried about death by Depth Charge at the moment.

“Alright DC, now it's time for phase 2.” you winked.

“And what might that be?” He asked accusingly, making a show of brushing off the debris from the floor that clung stubbornly to his plating.

“Having fun!” You sang with mock enthusiasm, then you frowned, “Except…”

Depth Charge loomed over you once again and you could almost feel the patience oozing out of him at a rapid rate. 

“Except what, y/n?” 

“Well...” you squeaked, then cleared your throat and tried again. “Well okay, I’m pretty sure there’s only one other room you could stand comfortably in and that’s the pool. We also have to get there somehow so uh…” You trailed off and looked up, giving him what you hoped was a reassuring face. 

“You up for a bit more maneuvering big guy?”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Depth Charge, as it turned out, was not up for a bit more maneuvering, but at least now you were 100% sure he loved you because he still followed you through the building, scraping his heavy metal body across the claustrophobic corridors with the diligence and dignity of a man going to war. Sure, he complained the whole time, but that was understandable for someone in his position. Now you just had to make sure he wouldn’t regret it.

The two of you followed the lingering scent of chlorine until you reached your destination. Lucky for you the door to the pool, while still not Depth Charge sized, (though you doubted anything in this world was made for a 20-foot tall mech) was still large enough for him to crawl through without much trouble. You opted out of laughing at him this time and decided to be the better partner, placing a hand in his massive one and guiding him through the tight squeeze. You felt your stomach flip-flop when he subtly pet your hand with one of his digits and looked up with a hint of appreciation in his warm red eyes.

When he fit through he stood up once more and took in the almost ethereal sight. The room was flickering with the light from the shining blue bulbs inside the water. It bathed the two of you in a ghostly glow, and the mixture of blue and yellow tones contrasting on Depth Charge’s face had you staring in wonder. You were in the middle of gaping at the shimmering dips and curves of his figure and wondering how you managed to get under the plating of something so alien, so incomprehensibly beautiful, when he suddenly grunted, knocking you out of your stupor. 

“It’s too small.” he announced and if you didn’t know better, you’d say he was almost whining.

“So am I but I don’t see you complaining.” you quipped back, rapping your knuckles on his metal calf.

He stared back unamused so you just sighed and continued.

“Look, it’s no open ocean, but I promise it’s clean, warm, and big enough for you to relax in.” 

“Plus,” you added when you noticed him still staring reluctantly over at the pool, “you get to see me in a swimsuit.”

You may or may not have purchased a piece of tasteful manta ray patterned swim attire with a certain someone in mind, and now that you had the chance to show him, you felt more than a little excited about it. You knew that he had a particular soft spot towards how much your bodies contrasted with one another already. You only hoped he would be as enthusiastic about seeing more of you as you were putting yourself on display for him. He grunted once again so you took it as a sign that he would need a bit more coaxing.

“Alright then, if you’re just going to sit there and sulk I’m going to go change.” 

As you began to saunter off towards the girl’s locker rooms, you felt a large metal hand rest on your shoulder, stopping you in your tracks. You sputtered and turned towards your offender, only to lose the peace of mind you had ready for him immediately. Deep in his crimson gaze was a hint of amusement and a hint of something else. Something that told you he would be more than welcome to join you for a swim tonight.

“Hey,” he said huskily, gently guiding you back to his side. “You don’t have to run off to go change you know.”

You huffed in response, suddenly finding yourself unable to meet his piercing amber gaze.

“Ummm, yeah I kind of do DC, I’m not going to jump in the pool fully dressed…”

“No, I mean you can stay and change here.” His voice dipped impossibly lower. “It’s just me. I won’t bite.”

His tone of voice made it clear that yes he absolutely would bite and if he did you would enjoy it. But you relented for the same reason why you had broken into your work with him in the first place. Try as you might, you could never say no to that handsome face.

“If you say so!” you chirped, stepping back to shed your hoodie, hiding your steadily rising heartbeat under a blanket of chipper confidence. Once that was tossed to the side you moved on to your jeans. Pulling them down to reveal the bottom half of the white and blue patterned bikini you donned as a tribute to the mech. Said mech sure did seem to appreciate it, as he was currently drinking in the sight of your bare legs and nearly bare chest. 

“Okay!” you popped back up, kicking off your sandals and resting your hands on your hips. When you caught him staring shamelessly you decided to give the mech a taste of his own medicine.

“See something you like short-stack?” you quipped, posing in a way that let the bikini’s navy blue watercolor mantas stand out in the tinted light. His eyes widened in recognition at the line and the familiar creatures on your only remaining article of clothing, then he suddenly decided that the pool was much more interesting than your comically sultry pose and the tiny him-themed bathing suit you had on.

“I like it.” he vented “The clothes I mean. You humans can be pretty creative sometimes.”

“I should hope so.” You sniffed. “I bought this just for you and it wasn’t cheap.”

Then you turned and grinned, “So I’d better get my money’s worth.”

With that questionable comment, you skipped off towards the edge of the pool and slipped in, turning back to watch Depth Charge stomp towards the deeper end of the pool to join you.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as you’d imagined, the water only went up to Depth Charge’s thick middle, so he opted to sink down cross-legged and comfortable, letting the warm water lap gently around his shoulders while he watched you swim in circles around him. This action had displaced most of the water out of the pool and onto the floor surrounding it but hey, it wasn’t like anyone would find out the cause of the now soaking concrete. Even if one of your coworkers did conclude that a giant aquatic alien robot caused this huge mess, what could they do about it? The thought of your manager chewing out Depth Charge for carelessly causing a pool-side hazard while he hung his head in shame was an amusing one though.

You had been gliding in and out of the water surrounding the mech for the past hour and could admit, you had been putting on a bit of a show for him. Performing various strokes and dives around his large body hoping to capture his attention. Occasionally you’d stop to rest on your back and let the shifting water drag you towards various corners of the pool. It was when you were drifting around aimlessly on your back that you bumped up against the chassis of the bot. You opened your eyes, looked up, and met an uncharacteristically tender yellow gaze. It was strange seeing him so relaxed. He sat with his arms on the side of the pool and winged back carefully resting against a corner, much like a casual spa-goer would lounge on the side of a hot tub. You had promised him warm water and clearly he was enjoying himself more than he let on.

You squeaked as he suddenly thrust his arms in the water, using his large hands to playfully corral you up to his chest.

“Depth Charge what are you doing?” you squirmed, legs kicking out as he scooped you up from underneath, preventing you from diving away.

“Going fishing.” he chuckled. “Got myself a catch, but she’s a bit small, I may have to throw her back.”

“Depth Charge don’t you dare!” 

But before you could finish, he lifted you up in one giant hand and gently tossed you in an arch about four feet forward and five feet in the air, laughing as you screeched unceremoniously before hitting the water with a loud smack. You shot up sputtering, charging up some choice words to yell at the cackling mech, but then you stopped when you saw him, and all of a sudden you weren’t mad anymore.

He wasn’t just laughing, he was beaming. At some point, he’d felt comfortable enough to take off his mask. You hadn’t really made a big deal out of it, knowing how rare a glimpse of his battle-scarred smolder could be. The last thing you wanted to do was make him feel like he couldn’t be vulnerable around you. But now that he was grinning, rugged lips stretched open and multiple rows of fangs flashing in the blue light. Now that he had a look of genuine joy on his face. You couldn’t look away. You felt a tug in the back of your mind, a little voice that begged you to do something you had only ever dreamed of before. Slowly before he could catch you staring, before he could hide his glowing smile under a stormy face, you paddled up to him and rested your head on his chest and let the warm throb of his spark pulse through your entire being. 

“Back for more tiny?” he smirked, gently cupping you and lifting you against his slick metal shoulder. 

“Depth Charge…” you whispered, gently tracing the curves of his wings and slowly moving to cup the side of his rough face. “You’re an asshole you know that? But still, I love it when you’re like this.”

“y/n…?” he questioned, not making any move to pull away or push you off, so you continued.

“I love it when you’re smiling, and I mean really smiling. Just like before. I love it when you’re happy. Hell, all I ever want to do is make you happy.” You let your thumb brush over one of the scars splitting his lip, enjoying the way your whole body shook when he trembled.

“Depth Charge, I love you.”

With that, you leaned forward and smashed your lips against his, feeling his body tense for a second, then relax into the kiss. He held pushed you closer against him using both hands to hold you as tightly as he could without hurting you. His hands shook like he was afraid you might disappear, and you gently stroked one of his cool digits letting him know you weren’t going anywhere. Your other hand mapped out the imperfections of his scarred cheek as you deepened the kiss.

As his tongue teased against your lips for entrance, you were suddenly reminded that every single part of this massive mech as nearly 3 times the size of you. Oh well, you had gotten this far with him, you weren’t about to let something as silly as the sheer size of his tongue scare you off. You let him sink in slowly, moaning around his tongue loving how it filled every inch of your mouth. You kissed around the curious probe for a while but had to gasp and pull back when it sunk down a little too deep for a first kiss. When you leaned back to catch your breath, you gazed into the most flustered face you had ever seen on a partner, let alone on someone like Depth Charge. Judging by the way his eyes squinted up into a sly smile once he recovered, you figured that you didn’t look much better.

“Well that was, something.” he finally mumbled, pulling you back from where he was crushing you into his chest and instead choosing to tuck you under his chin. 

“Yeah…” you sighed, almost expecting to wake up from a hazy, glowing, and very vivid dream. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“It was okay though, right? We could do it again sometime?”

When he looked down at you, you could have melted right there on the spot. He gazed at you like he almost couldn’t believe you were real, or really his. Sitting in the arms of a metal titan in the lukewarm water of a closed YMCA, you had never felt more treasured in your entire life.

“Yeah…” he trailed off, tracing over your delicate human features with the tip of a careful finger. “I’d be alright with that.”

And with that, he promptly flipped you back around and brought you back up for another warm, slow, and loving kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I will make Dc live his best life or die trying.  
Also, I have much more in store for this couple in the future (All of it just a ridiculous) but if you want to see anything specific or just want to tell me what you thought, leave a comment! Comments, kudos, and my love for Depth Charge keep me going.  
Thank you for reading!


End file.
